A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“Instead of ‘British Summer Time’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ we should just call them ‘Oven Clock Correct Time’...” (3/28)
Entry in progress—BP7 (3/28)
Entry in progress—BP6 (3/28)
Entry in progress—BP5 (3/28)
Entry in progress—BP4 (3/28)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from May 21, 2012
“If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll get is all you ever got”

“If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got” has been cited in print since at least 1984. The saying was used in weight control and wellness, indicating that one must change habits in order to get different (improved) results. Margaret Spellings, the Secretary of Education (2005-2009) that President George W. Bush brought to Washington from Texas, used what was regarded as a Texas expression in 2005, “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you’ve ever got!”
 
A similar saying also popular since the 1980s is “Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.”
 
   
Google Books
Wellness Promotion Strategies:
Selected proceedings of the Eighth Annual National Wellness Conference, Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Edited by Joseph P. Opatz
Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co.
1984
“If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” That’s another really basic thing in weight reduction.
   
7 March 1987, Providence (RI) Journal, “A second chance is what really matters at the Bottom Line” by Les Boyd, pg. A5:
On another wall someone has pencilled a sign: “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.”
       
Google Books
The Natural Rider:
A right-brain approach to riding

By Mary Wanless
New York, NY: Summit Books
1987
Pg. 116:
A friend of mine hit the nail on the head when she quoted the saying: “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.”
 
6 September 1991, Miami (FL) Herald, “A Sampling,” pg. 1E:
From Weight Watchers: “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.”
   
2 December 1998, Kerrville (TX) Daily News, “Grasping the last straw: An overnight success story,” pg. 11A, col. 5:
If they could deliver one message to all parents facing the challenges of raising children, it would be this: “A wise friend once told me, ‘If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got,’” says Terri.
 
New York (NY) Times
‘Soccer Mom’ Education Chief Plays Hardball
By SAM DILLON
Published: April 28, 2005
WASHINGTON - Margaret Spellings once described herself to a Texas reporter as “an earth-mother type of Republican.” As the first woman with school-age children to serve as secretary of education, she was asked recently to explain herself.
(...)
She was a stream of Texas truisms, punching home a point about how America needed to modernize its schools to meet world competition by blurting, “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you’ve ever got!”
 
New York (NY) Times
9/11 and 4/11
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: July 20, 2008
I am reliably told by a Bush administration official that there is an old saying in Texas that goes like this: “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.”
 
Google Books
Ifferisms: An Anthology of Aphorisms That Begin With the Word “If”
By Mardy Grothe
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers
2009
Pg. 20:
If you always do what you always did,
you will always get what you always got.
Pg. 21:
He (New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman—ed.) wrote: “There is an old saying in Texas that goes like this: ‘If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.’”
 
Fast Company
A Game Plan for Game Changers
BY William Taylor | 12-14-2010 | 3:52 PM
(...)
Some unknown Texas genius put it simply: “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.” It’s hard to put it any better.

Posted by {name}
Texas (Lone Star State Dictionary) • Monday, May 21, 2012 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.